By Zein Khalil
JERUSALEM (AA) – Israel will hold negotiations with Hamas “only under fire,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday.
The minister made his remarks after a flight over the Gaza Strip and northern Israel near the border with Lebanon.
“The strikes and the plumes of smoke where the IDF (army) attacks are clearly visible to the eye, both in the Gaza Strip and in the north (Lebanon),” Gallant boasted.
“We are in a process where we will continue and wear down the enemy. Any negotiations with the Hamas terror organization will only be conducted under fire,” he added.
On Tuesday, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said that his group will not strike any hostage swap deal with Israel without a full cessation of the Israeli war and complete troop withdrawal from Gaza.
On Friday, US President Joe Biden said Israel presented a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave. The plan includes a cease-fire, a hostage-prisoner exchange, and reconstruction of Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, said Monday that he was “not ready to stop" the war on Gaza, claiming that Biden's remarks about the cease-fire proposal were “inaccurate.”
Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt have so far failed to agree on a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.
Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
Around 36,600 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority being women and children, and over 83,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Nearly eight months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio